Euro 2004: Quarterfinals Portugal v England

El Sop

Mann ohne Eigenschaften
Joined
May 24, 2003
Messages
349
Location
Spain
With the first quarterfinals known, let's start the E04QF thread.

Portugal - England
France - Greece

I think the Portuguese will have the edge versus the English and I don't see the Greeks pull off another stunt, so it will be France with a relatively easy match, although they haven't convinced me yet.

(Edit)
Sweden - Holland
Czechia - Denmark
 
The Greeks beat Portugal and draw with Spain. They have earned respect and I think France will have a tough game against them. Greece have defended very well throughout the tournament and France have not looked convincing up-front. So, it is concievable that Greece would be able to nick a goal then defend and France would struggle to find a way past. However after the Switzerland result it is just as concievable that France will have a renewed attacking belief and, if Saha plays, they could destroy Greece. Overall I think it's going to be a close match but I reckon France will win it by the odd goal. Either 2-1 or 3-2.

Portugal versus England is going to one very close match. The Portugese have struggled so far but after they put their faith in C. Ronaldo they have looked much better. He added much needed pace down the wing and he's ability to run at people will certainly worry England, especially with our dodgy left-side. However Figo and the rest of Portugal's forward players have looked lacklustre. The Portugese defence has had an average tournament and the Greece game showed they are breachable.

England have had a tournament of two halves. The attacking half has looked impressive, particularly one Mr Rooney. Owen while assisting two of Rooney's goals hasn't really done much but in the second half of the Croatia game he looked much more interested and with the attention now focused squarely on Rooney he might just pop up and steal the headlines. The midfield has looked good, except for Beckham who has been poor by his standards, with Lampard and Gerrard being among the best centre-midfield partnership in the whole tournament. I would prefer Dyer to be on the left instead of Scholes as Ashley Cole has so far been unprotected and against Portugal that could be fatal. The defence has looked shaky with Terry and James being the main worries. However if it regained the assureness it showed against France I think England will triumph. My prediction is 3-1 to England.
 
I am more concerned about the referee than the players. Portugal recieved no help from Collina, but in the Russian game the ref. may as well been wearing a Portugese kit. I don't trust the Swedish ref. from the last game either.

If UEFA supply a fair referee, I will enjoy the Portugal-England game and expect the winner of that contest to take home the cup. It will be a great crowd aswell, with English supporters being most numerous, and Portugal being the home side. I predict 2-2 and penalties :cry:

Greece may have performed well, but they are clearly the underdogs. Their chances ride on silencing Henry without conceding any free kicks. If they can do that, they will be fine. I predict 2-1 to France.

Scarey stuff! :p
 
Come on, stop whining about referees! Portugal is in the QF not because of or thanks to the refs. And trust me, I'd rather have seen another team in Portugals place... :sad:
 
I'd expect France and England to progress to the semi-finals. I'm unconvinced by Portugal - while they did play better in the Spain game, there were still a number of chances that the Spanish team should have taken, and it's quite inconceivable for this England team to play as disjointedly as Spain did on Sunday. As long as England don't give away many freekicks near their own goal (their set-piece defending has been very poor, as others have pointed out), then they should be too strong for Portugal.

Greece, well, they were very lucky to get to the quarter-finals. Good defending, true, but they were outplayed in all three games and there are bound to come unstuck sooner or later. Having said that, France appeared terribly lackadaisical in defence against both Croatia and Switzerland, so if they become over-confident for the Q-final, they could let themselves be surprised by Greece yet.

As an aside; Stormbind, I agree that the referee in the Portugal - Russia game was wrong to send the Russian keeper off. However, I think you've been watching a different tournament to the rest of us if you think generally there has been a consistent refereeing bias towards Portugal. Portugal beat Russia because they were the better team, and played better. They beat Spain because Spain didn't play at all well - their teamwork was terrible, and their tactics foolish. El Sop is right - Portugal have earned their place in the QFs.
 
Denmark has a nice squad, but will falter to the mighty Czechs. They will fall into the same trap as the Dutch usually do, attack too much.
 
I expect Czech Republic - Denmark to be a nice game. I'd say the chances are equal, the Czech offense may be a bit stronger, but so is the Danish defence.
For the Czechs today's results are good, I think, because Italy would have been exactly the kind of team they wouldn't look good against.
 
El Sop said:
Denmark has a nice squad, but will falter to the mighty Czechs. They will fall into the same trap as the Dutch usually do, attack too much.

I'm not convinced that that's really such a bad idea against the Czechs - their defense is definitely the weakest part of the team. The Dutch lost it when they started defending instead of going for the jugular (and because of crap defending and biased refereeing of course).

Czechs are still favourites to win that one but I wouldn't count out the Danes too quickly.
 
I think the danes were easily the best team of their group and that they have a good chance of beating the czechs. I don't see Czech Republic as such a big favourite in this game.

Sweden otoh, didn't seem to be as great as the 5-0 score line against the bulgarians sugested at first. I think that Holland is definitely a better team if they can sort their problems out. If it's against Germany, then I think it can go either side, if it's not the Germany of the latvian game showing up. I don't see Latvia pulling enough upsets to see them going to the semis.

In the France-Greece match, the french should advance, but will probably have the usual problems in breaking Greece's defence. I predict that Zidane and especially Henry will play closer to their real capabilities and that should be enough unless the defence screws it royally.

Portugal-England should in theory be close. Both teams seem to be playing better now, but have their weak spots. I can just hope Portugal wins.
 
MCdread said:
Portugal-England should in theory be close. Both teams seem to be playing better now, but have their weak spots. I can just hope Portugal wins.

That is going to be a very interesting match... :mischief:
 
El Sop said:
Denmark has a nice squad, but will falter to the mighty Czechs. They will fall into the same trap as the Dutch usually do, attack too much.

Hm.

As long as the danish don't substitute their wingers, the danish system looks pretty suited at beating the czechs.
 
Wayne Rooney is by far the best striker in the tournament, and if Portugal do not deal with him, like that of Croatia then by, by Portugal.

prediction:- England 3 portugal 2
 
Lambert Simnel said:
I'

As an aside; Stormbind, I agree that the referee in the Portugal - Russia game was wrong to send the Russian keeper off. However, I think you've been watching a different tournament to the rest of us if you think generally there has been a consistent refereeing bias towards Portugal. Portugal beat Russia because they were the better team, and played better. They beat Spain because Spain didn't play at all well - their teamwork was terrible, and their tactics foolish. El Sop is right - Portugal have earned their place in the QFs.
==


Fair point,
there's been a few dodgy decisions , especially the sending off of the Swiss player which helped a toiling England to win.

Portugal as a team are quite used to cheating so hopefully a strong ref can ensure a fair game.
 
stormbind said:
... I don't trust the Swedish ref. from the last game either.
...

That would be Anders Frisk. While I didn't see that particular game he usually does a pretty good job. At least that's my impression when I watch his games.
 
jack merchant said:
I'm not convinced that that's really such a bad idea against the Czechs - their defense is definitely the weakest part of the team. The Dutch lost it when they started defending instead of going for the jugular (and because of crap defending and biased refereeing of course).

Czechs are still favourites to win that one but I wouldn't count out the Danes too quickly.
Okay, the Danes should have an attacking concept in mind, it will be their best chance. What I meant to say is that I think the Czechs really like and are good at playing teams that attack. They really had more trouble with themselves against Latvia than against Holland.
Besides, the Danes have a remarkably bad historical record against the Czechs 1-6-11 (W-D-L). Then again, history tells us nothing (except when it comes to Spain :( ).
 
So we have:

Portugal - England
France - Greece

Sweden - Holland
Czechia - Denmark
 
With the luck they had so far the Dutch will beat Sweden. Generally though their defence should get problems with Larsson, Ljungberg and Ibrahimovic.
As said yesterday I expect Czech Republic vs. Denmark to become a great match.
 
Hitro said:
As said yesterday I expect Czech Republic vs. Denmark to become a great match.

Yeah I am looking forward to that one! Two teams that both have played positive football.
 
WickedSmurf said:
Yeah I am looking forward to that one! Two teams that both have played positive football.
Same here. The Danes have the best width of all the teams and the Czechs have the best movement. It should be one hell of a match.
 
Back
Top Bottom